KALAMAZOO, MI -- Democrat George Franklin said an allegedly sexist passage of his 2014 book is being misinterpreted by progressives on social media.

"Raisin Bran and Other Cereal Wars: 30 Years of Lobbying for the Most Famous Tiger in the World" is billed as a revealing look at the life of a lobbyist on Capitol Hill. Franklin, a candidate for Michigan's 6th Congressional District, is the former vice president government relations for Kellogg Company.

Earlier this week, two pages of Franklin's book started being shared on social media. The excerpt is from an early chapter of the book, describing his time as an intern for Rep. Frank Thompson, D-New Jersey.

Franklin writes that "parts of the job were a lot of fun," especially when visiting the office of Charlie Wilson, D-Texas, who "ran a front office that looked like a hookers' convention."

Franklin noted in the book that Wilson had a reputation as a womanizer, which would be later be emphasized in the movie "Charlie Wilson's War."

At the time, Wilson was a member of the House Committee on Appropriations. Franklin writes that he would often be sent to Wilson's office.

"This was a welcome duty since the front office looked like a parody of a whorehouse," Franklin wrote. "There were girls with big hair, big boobs and short skirts. A testament to this is a famous quote from Wilson who said 'You can teach 'em to type but you can't teach 'em to grow tits.'"

In a July 11 statement on his campaign Facebook page, Franklin said the passage was an attempt to "portray Washington as it was in the 'mad men' era and the outrageous behavior that took place."

Franklin said he does not condone "those actions." Instead, he meant to highlight actions that are "unacceptable and beyond the pale."

The statement was released on the same day Franklin received the endorsement of the Progressive Women's Alliance of Western Michigan. The political action committee could not be reached Friday.

"I do not and would not speak about women in this way and I regret deeply that my words might hurt or offend anyone," Franklin said in the July 11 statement.

As many people try and distract from issues that matter to voters, I would like to address some attacks coming towards...

Franklin indicated that attacks directed at him in regard to his book distract from "issues that matter to voters."

Eponine Garrod said other women in the district think the excerpt reflects poorly on Franklin's character.

Garrod said Franklin appears to romanticize a period of "rampant sexism" in the book without condemning it.

She campaigned against Franklin as a Democrat but wasn't able to gain enough signatures to be listed on the primary ballot. Garrod since endorsed Matt Longjohn, another Democratic candidate for the seat.

In a Friday statement, Lonjohn said Franklin's sexist, misogynistic language is inappropriate under any circumstances.

"Capitol Hill has a well-documented problem with sexual harassment, and George's glorification of sexism in the workplace demonstrates he has been complicit and part of the problem," he said in the statement.

David Benac, Rich Eichholz, Frankling and Longjohn will appear on the ballot in the Aug. 7 Democratic primary. The winner will challenge U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, in the November general election.

"In (Franklin's) apology statement, he completely deflects any of the fault or accountability for these words and tries to push them off as part of the time," Garrod said. "But his book was published four years ago. That really cinches that for a lot of the folks in our district. We're tired of being told that sexism doesn't matter when we are feeling the effects of it daily."

Eli Isaguirre, Franklin's campaign manager, said Thursday that the selection was cherry-picked from a book full of insider stories. Franklin intended to paint a picture of how Congress was and how people thought at the time, Isaguirre said.

"I don't think George is trying to romanticize anything," Isaguirre said. "(He meant to convey) 'if you were there this is how you would have been thinking or what you would have seen.'"

Isaguirre said Franklin has a record of fighting for women's rights. He supported Planned Parenthood and had a leading role in crafting sexual harassment policies while on the Western Michigan University Board of Trustees, Isaguirre said.

Several other men and women responded to Franklin's statement on the controversy on social media.